Learners' participation in monitoring water catchments as part of the Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Council's environmental management plan

Abstract:

Local Agenda 21 requires the public to participate in water quality monitoring. This
research aims to establish to what extent the youth/learners can play a role in the public
participation requirement of LA 21, and how their participation can contribute to the
water quality monitoring aspect of the Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Council (GPMC)’s
Environmental Management Plan. This research is a case study and examines fresh
water issues in an urban area, with the Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Area (GPMA) as
the specific focus. The role of learners in participatory monitoring of the quality of
surface water in the three river catchments in the GPMA is examined. Monitoring plays
an integral role in the GPMC’s Environmental Management Plan (EMP).
In order to solve this problem, the following steps are explained: The concepts of
sustainable development, Agenda 21, the relevant national laws, Local Agenda 21,
public participation, partnerships, the Greater Pretoria Metropolitan Council’s
Environmental Management Plan and water quality monitoring. The role of public
participation within the Agenda 21 framework is outlined with specific reference to the
role the youth can play. The way learners can be involved in water quality monitoring
is highlighted.
The following research methods are used: a literature study focusing on the main issues
of the research problem; a pre- and post-questionnaire answered by selected learners
in the five schools in three catchment areas; interviews with three people in relevant
environmental management and education fields and informal discussions with the
educators at the selected schools. The aim was to correlate the findings in the literature,
the data from the questionnaires and the information from the interviews.
It was found that learners can play a role in the public participation requirement of LA
21 by monitoring and reporting any pollution incidents to the relevant local authority;
inputting data into the State of the Environment Youth Report database and taking
ownership of a particular stretch of the stream near their school and ‘adopting’ and
‘policing’ it. It is recommended that long-term environmental facilitators be appointed by
(xiii)
the GPMC to work with all schools in the GPMA to coordinate this monitoring. They can
for example co-ordinate the allocation of particular stretches of each stream to a school
and train the learners how to monitor water quality and report any pollution incidents to
the relevant local authority.
It was also found that learners do want to be trained to do more advanced water
monitoring and be part of the GPMC and public- partnership in water monitoring, but
only on a small-scale as they perceive the GPMC to be the main role player in local
environmental management activities.